Prekindergarten Enrollment Tools and Resources

The Prekindergarten Enrollment Tools and Resources offers downloadable pdfs, videos, an example enrollment campaign and more. This resource section is composed of five categories: Outreach, Family Education, Registration, Expanding Access, and Community Empowerment. Each category has specific tools and resources to expand enrollment in High-Quality prekindergarten Programs. For additional support, use the Enrollment Toolkit on the Prekindergarten Registration and Enrollment page and TEA’s Early Childhood Education Resources page, Frequently Asked Questions and other pages.

Pre-k Best Practices and Advice for Outreach

Overview Document

How to use these messaging statements

• Use information to make your own flyers applicable to your area.
• Distribute to current families.
• Partner with community agencies to distribute at libraries, churches, neighborhood meetings, homeless shelters, etc.
• Distribute flyers through local businesses.
• Connect with your local police department to help spread the word about your pre-k programs.
• Partner with local realtors to help distribute to new families moving into your area. Target apartment complexes where eligible students reside. Ask if they would be willing to distribute flyers to new and existing renters.
• View English Version | View Spanish Version

Sample Messaging Tools

• Pre-k Matters Infographic
• Sample Prekindergarten Social Media Language (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Social Media Hashtags
• Prekindergarten Neighborhood Walk Flyer (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Prekindergarten Neighborhood Walk Tips

Sample Primary Care Provider Tools

• Prescription for Prekindergarten

How to use the Prescription for Prekindergarten

• Use the information to create a prescription for your area
• Reproduce as a notepad to distribute to local primary care providers
• Meet with the primary care providers to provide some context and background about your programs and why they should prescribe it

Media Campaign Tools

 

View English Version | View Spanish Version

 

View English Version | View Spanish Version

 

View English Version | View Spanish Version

 

View English Version

 

Parents as Resources Tools

• Parent Ambassador Recruiting Flyer (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Parent Ambassador Letter (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Sample Parent Talking Points (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Sample Prekindergarten Parent Ambassador Badges (View English Version | View Spanish Version)

Tools for Highlighting Developmental/Parenting Tips

• Little Texans Parent Guides and Posters on Developmental Milestones
• CLI Engage Infant and Toddler Developmental Checklists
• Zero to Three Article: The Power of Play (View English Version | View Spanish Version)

How to use these messaging statements

• Use information from these tools in newsletters and/or posters to highlight developmental milestones in young children.
• Take small portions of the checklists to highlight in newsletters and/or on district/school websites.

Family Workshop Tools

• E3 Alliance School Readiness Parent Guides
• PBS Parents Website
• Parents as Teachers Website
• CLI Engage CIRCLE Activity Collection: Family
• Help for Parents. Hope for Kids.
• Zero to Three: Grandparent Guide

How to use these workshop tools

Take ideas from these tools to create engaging learning activities such as "Make and Takes" for families to use at home.

School Tour Tools

The School Tour Activity Pack includes tools for putting together a school tour for prekindergarten families (signs, flyers, activity suggestions, and tips!).

Prekindergarten Event Day Tools

• The Prekindergarten Fair Toolkit includes activity suggestions, signage, and flyers.
• The E3 Alliance School Readiness Parent Guide provides easy-to-use tools to help children successfully prepare to enter school. This guide is downloadable for free and can be provided at the fair.

Use Online Platforms and Social Media Tools

Sample Prekindergarten Social Media Language (View English Version | View Spanish Version)

Family-Friendly Registration Information Tools

• Documents needed for pre-k registration (View English Version | View Spanish Version)

Tools for Registration Support Packets

• Austin ISD Pre-k Registration Flowchart
• Sample Pre-k Registration Flyers (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Prekindergarten Registration Tips

Tools for Hosting a Pre-k Orientation Day

• Sample Prekindergarten Orientation Outline
• Sample Prekindergarten Orientation Flyer (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• School Tour Activity Pack (with English and Spanish included)

Outreach and Marketing Tools

• Best Practices and Advice for Outreach
• Sample Social Media Language (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Neighborhood Walk Flyer (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Pre-k Neighborhood Walk Tips
• Sample Pre-k Registration News Media Coverage (KXAN Pre-k Enrollment Coverage in Austin ISD)
• District Registration Promotional Videos

Parents as Resources Tools

• Parent Ambassador Letter (View English Version | View Spanish Version

Tools to Help Identify Barriers/Challenges

• Sample Survey Questions (View English Version | View Spanish Version)

How to use these surveys

• Select questions based on the audience you are targeting
• Survey families of current prekindergarten students
• Offer the surveys as part of the registration process
• Offer the surveys in campus offices for families that inquire about the prekindergarten program

Transportation Tools

• Walking School Bus

Before and After School Care Tools

• After School Alliance (national)
• After School Alliance (Texas)

Tools for Building Relationships

• Prekindergarten Talking Points for staff (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Prekindergarten Community Event Activity Suggestions
• Family Information Cards (View English Version | View Spanish Version)

Parent Ambassador Tools

• Sample Pre-k Parent Ambassador recruiting flyer (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Sample Parent Talking Points (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Pre-k Neighborhood Walk Tips
• Neighborhood Walk Flyer (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Sample Pre-k Parent Ambassador Badges (View English Version | View Spanish Version)

Community Partnership Tools

• Community Event Activity Suggestions
• Prekindergarten Talking Points for Staff (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• Family Information Cards (View English Version | View Spanish Version)

Overview

In 2018, the Commit Partnership brought 13 districts together to build a campaign around prekindergarten enrollment and registration. The cohort of districts pooled resources of their marketing dollars towards a nearly $150,000 joint media buy. For example, instead of Dallas ISD and Fort Worth ISD both trying to buy airtime on the same station for PreK enrollment, there was a general commercial that both districts (and other districts) have contributed towards, which allows the districts to have a higher frequency of the commercial. This sends the message of enrolling children in a high-quality PreK program, rather than enrolling in a particular district. This only works, though, if districts have agreed to a common registration period. The districts in this cohort agreed to the first week in April. For the 2022 Prekindergarten Campaign, Commit partnered with 14 districts to engage their regional enrollment campaign to inform families of the strategic benefits of high-quality prekindergarten and options for 3- and 4-year-old children.

The resources and tools provided in this section have all been shared by the Commit Partnership, and some items in this example have been updated over the years. Those updated links are included in the example campaign. Commit’s hope is that this example and these resources will be helpful to other regions/districts who are interested in adopting this model. Through partnership, analysis, engagement, and growth, Commit developed a model for the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and these same ideas can be applied to communities and districts of all sizes to increase awareness and collaboration to promote the importance of high-quality early education in local regions/districts.

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact the Commit team including Allison Braley Allison.braley@commitpartnership.org, Chelsea Jeffery chelsea.jeffery@commitpartnership.org, or use info@earlymattersdallas.org.

Project Timeline/ Campaign Information

The Commit Partnership has shared their project timeline which gives an idea of when they started mobilizing and activating on the various strategies. Commit is happy to talk more about how they work with districts to track their data throughout the summer so that they can target their outreach efforts more strategically as the start of school approaches. The campaign has been updated over the years, being adjusted based on the number of districts participating, the data driven results, and feedback from parents and the community. Components of the 2022 Prekindergarten Campaign include:

• A common website: www.prekdfw.org
• TV & Radio Commercials
• Print Media
• Grassroots Initiative
• Social Media Tools
• Digital Geotargeting
• Cross-District Collaboration

When implementing an enrollment campaign, remember to collect data and analyze feedback from parents and the community to make data driven adjustments for future success. Based on the 2022 Prekindergarten Campaign, Commit and the district partners adjusted for the 2023 campaign to address barriers that included lack of family awareness, limited prekindergarten seats, and teacher shortages. The tools below provide additional information about this enrollment campaign including Commit’s recent work in 2022 and 2023.

Tools

• Pre-K Enrollment Campaign Project Timeline
• DFW Regional Prekindergarten Campaign Overview

Radio Commercials

The Commit Partnership worked with a community partner to develop a radio commercial with parent and child voice, rather than using your typical district spokesman. After the commercial aired, there was a large increase in the number of texting participants and enrollment in districts. Commit recently updated their radio commercials including Spanish and English versions.

Tools

• 30 sec. Spanish Radio Ad #1
• 30 sec. Eng. Radio
• 30 sec. Spanish Radio Ad #2
• 30 sec. English Radio Ad #2

TV Commercials and Videos for Social Media

Parent testimonial videos (English and Spanish) were utilized on social media and throughout the website. A 30 second TV advertisement with concepts developed by parents was created (English and Spanish) as well. There are also longer 1-minute versions that were pushed out via social media.

Tools

• Parent Testimonial Videos (Updated) (View English Version | View Spanish Version)
• 30 second TV Advertisement (2018) (View English Version | View Spanish Version)

Community Partners

Over 50 community partners were utilized to distribute district flyers to families. Partners can be anyone from a church to a WIC office. In the campaign, partners requested flyers through a survey and then Commit printed and distributed them to lower costs. What’s unique about this is that these partners were trained to be Pre-K advocates beyond just giving out flyers. For example, many of the same documents needed to apply for SNAP benefits at WIC are the same documents needed for PreK. Commit provided partners with training materials, FAQ sheets, social media guides, documentation required, etc. to help the partners be advocates who walk parents through the enrollment process. Identifying partners that could collaborate to promote prekindergarten access and enrollment is a strategy that can be replicated in any district/charter.

Tools

• www.prekdfw.org
• Social media toolkit for Community Partners
• FAQ sheets
• 2018 Prekindergarten Campaign Content Calendar
• Documentation required
• Common misconceptions about pre-k